Method and apparatus for selecting an operating mode based on a determination of the availability of internal clock signals

ABSTRACT

A system and method to operate an electronic device, such as a memory chip, with an output driver circuit that is configured to include an ODT (On-Die Termination) mode detector detects whether there is sufficient internal clocking available to operate the ODT portion in the output driver in the synchronous mode of operation or to switch the operation to the asynchronous mode. The clock-sufficiency based determination of internal ODT mode of operation (synchronous vs. asynchronous) avoids utilization of complex and inflexible clock processing logic in an ODT control unit in the output driver. This enables the actual clocking to the ODT circuitry to be changed during various device operational modes (e.g., active, power down, etc.) without re-designing the ODT control logic for each of those modes. The simplicity and flexibility of the ODT mode detector design allows for efficient use of chip real estate without affecting the signal transfer speed of the output driver in the electronic device. Because of the rules governing abstracts, this abstract should not be used to construe the claims.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/486,381, filed Jun. 17, 2009, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,915,924,on Mar. 29, 2011, which application is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/195,897, filed Aug. 3, 2005, and issued as U.S.Pat. No. 7,560,956 on Jul. 14, 2009. These applications and patents areeach incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety, for anypurpose.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure generally relates to electronic devices withvarious modes of operation and, in one embodiment, to a system andmethod for automatically selecting between a asynchronous mode or asynchronous mode of operation for an electronic device having an on dietermination (ODT) circuit.

2. Brief Description of Related Art

Memory devices are electronic devices that are widely used in manyelectronic products and computers to store data. A memory device is asemiconductor electronic device that includes a number of memory cells,each cell storing one bit of data. The data stored in the memory cellscan be read during a read operation. A memory device may send the datato the data-requesting device in the system (e.g., a processor or amemory controller) via an output driver circuit to maintain requisitesignal strength and data integrity.

FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram illustrating a portion of an outputdriver 10 in an electronic device (e.g., a memory chip) (not shown). Theoutput driver 10 may perform a signal transfer function from an internalor signal-generating part of the electronic device to the external pinson the electronic device, which pins may allow the signal to bepropagated to the appropriate device in the system via a signal transfermechanism (e.g., a bus). In the case of a memory device (not shown), theoutput driver 10 may transfer the memory's internally-generated data(DQ) signals 18 to data (DQ) pins 20 of the memory chip. It is observedhere that although the operation of the output driver 10 is discussedhereinbelow with reference to a memory chip, the discussion may equallyapply to such output driver configurations in other non-data signaltransfer applications in other electronic devices as well

The output driver unit 10 is shown connected to the data (DQ) pins 20 ofthe memory chip (not shown). The driver 10 receives the data signals (DQOut) 18 from the memory cells (not shown) to be output on the DQ pins 20(e.g., during a memory read operation). In a DDR (Double Data Rate) DRAM(Dynamic Random Access Memory) memory chip, the output driver 10 mayalso include a set of ODT (On-Die Termination) legs or circuit portion12 and a set of non-ODT legs or circuit portion 14. The on-chip ODTcircuit portion 12 may be used to improve signal integrity in thesystem. An ODT pin (one of the pins on a memory chip (not shown)) may beprovided on the chip to receive an externally-supplied (e.g., by amemory controller (not shown)) ODT enable/disable signal toactivate/deactivate the ODT legs 12. Although the ODT circuit 12 in FIG.1 is shown associated with the DQ pins 20, in practice, correspondingODT circuits 12 may be provided for any other pins on a memory chipincluding, for example, the address pins and the control pins (not shownin FIG. 1, but shown in FIG. 2). The ODT circuit 12 may be moreprevalent in DDR SDRAMs (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memories).

In operation, the ODT circuit 12 provides desired termination impedanceto improve signal integrity by controlling reflected noise on thetransfer line connecting the memory chip to another processing device,e.g., a memory controller (not shown). In a DDR SDRAM, the terminationregister (not shown) that was conventionally mounted on a motherboardcarrying memory chips is incorporated inside the DDR SDRAM chip toenable or disable the ODT circuit 12 when desired. The terminationregister may be programmed through an ODT pin (not shown) on the memorychip by an external processor (e.g., a memory controller) toenable/disable the ODT circuit 12. As is known in the art, for example,when two or more memory chips are present in a system, during a memorywrite operation to one of the chips, the ODT circuit 12 in the otherchip (which is not receiving data) is activated to absorb any signalpropagations or reflections received on the data lines (or address orcontrol lines, as may be the case) of that “inactive” chip. Thisselective activation/deactivation of the ODT circuit 12 (e.g., in thememory chip that is not currently sending or receiving data) preventsthe “inactive” chip from receiving spurious signals, thereby avoidingdata corruption in the chip. The ODT circuit 12 thus improves integrityof signals (e.g., data signals in case of a memory chip) to be providedto external devices via the output driver 10. The non-ODT circuitportion 14 in the output driver 10 may provide routine signal driverfunctions to data signals as is known in the art.

The output driver 10 may also include an ODT enable/disable logic 16 toprovide activation/deactivation of the tuning transistors in the ODTlegs 12. A similar control unit (not shown) may also be provided for theactivation/deactivation of the non-ODT legs 14. The ODT enable/disableunit 16 may generate a control signal (not shown) that is supplied tothe ODT circuit portion 12 to activate or deactivate the ODT legs 12based on the status of the control signal. The ODT legs 12 as well asthe non-ODT legs 14 of the output driver 10 provide necessary signalamplification and buffering to the data signals to be sent from thememory cells (not shown) to the DQ pins 20. However, the ODT legs 12 mayadditionally provide the ODT functionality when activated. Thus,although the ODT and non-ODT legs may be identically constructed, inoperation of the driver 10, the ODT legs 12 may provide output driverfunction as well as the ODT functionality, whereas the non-ODT legs 14may just provide the data output driver function (data signalamplification and buffering). Each output of the driver 10 may have anIC (integrated circuit) output pad (not shown) to convey the datasignals to the corresponding DQ pins 20 as is known in the art. It isnoted here that only a portion of the output driver 10 is shown in FIG.1 for ease of illustration and clarity. Additional circuit details ofFIG. 1 are known in the art and not relevant here and, hence, are notdiscussed in detail here.

It is observed that in a DDR DRAM chip, even though the external ODT pin(not shown) on the memory chip may receive the ODT enable/disable signal(e.g., from a memory controller (not shown) as noted hereinbefore) in asynchronous manner, the internal operation of the ODT portion 12 can bemade synchronous or asynchronous (using the ODT enable/disable logicunit 16) depending on the chip's current mode of operation. For example,when the chip is in a power down mode, the ODT enable/disable logic 16may detect the power down state and operate the ODT portion 12 in anasynchronous mode even though the external ODT enable/disable signalrequires synchronous operation. In the specification that governs thehand-off from when the part (e.g., a memory chip) changes ODT internaloperational mode from asynchronous to synchronous and vice versa, thesynchronous ODT mode timing is treated as a subset of the asynchronousODT mode timing. Therefore, it is within the specification for the ODTportion 12 to be operating synchronously internally even when the memorychip is allowed to operate its ODT portion 12 in an asynchronous mannerby an external controller (not shown).asynchronous to synchronous andvice versa, the synchronous ODT mode timing is treated as a subset ofthe asynchronous ODT mode timing. Therefore, it is within thespecification for the ODT portion 12 to be operating synchronouslyinternally even when the memory chip is allowed to operate its ODTportion 12 in an asynchronous manner by an external controller (notshown).

The prior art ODT enable/disable logic unit or ODT control unit 16 is acomplex circuit involving significant delays in receiving and processingexternal clock and ODT enable/disable signal. The ODT control unit 16merely detects (based on appropriate internally-generated clockingsignals (not shown) input thereto) the current state of operation of thememory chip and, in response, determines the mode of operation(asynchronous or synchronous) for the ODT legs 12. For example, ifvarious internal clocking signals (derived from the external clockand/or the external ODT enable/disable signal) indicate that the memorychip is entering the power down mode, then the ODT control unit 16 willdecide to operate the ODT legs 12 in the asynchronous mode. If the ODTlegs 12 are currently operating in the synchronous mode, then the powerdown indication may require the ODT control unit 16 to switch the ODTmode of operation to the asynchronous mode irrespective of whether thesynchronous mode can be continued internally (this is possible, asmentioned before, because the synchronous mode timing specification is asubset of the asynchronous mode timing requirements). The reliance ofthe ODT control unit 16 on the device's next state (e.g., power downstate) may result in wasted clock cycles that may still be available tocontinue the synchronous ODT mode of operation before the internalclocks are stopped for the power down mode. As is known in the art,there is a delay between a decision is made to enter the power down modeand the internal clocks are finally stopped for the power down mode.Because of the significant delays involved in processing of variousclock signals input to the complex prior art ODT control unit 16, it maybe easier for the prior art ODT control unit 16 to rely on the currentmemory state indicated by the clocking signals and switch the ODT modeof operation without regard to the actual status and availability ofclock signals internally. Furthermore, the prior art ODT control unit 16is heavily dependent on the memory device's internal clocking logic.Therefore, when there are design changes in the device clocking logic,all ODT control units 16 on the device (e.g., a memory chip) have to bere-designed/re-configured to accommodate the changes in the clockinglogic, which can be time consuming and expensive.

It is therefore desirable to devise an output driver circuitconfiguration that employs a simple and significantly less complexdetector circuit to automatically determine internal ODT mode ofoperation (asynchronous vs. synchronous) without affecting the speedwith which signals may be output from the electronic device and withoutbeing affected by the design changes in the device clocking logic. It isfurther desirable to obtain such an output driver mechanism withoutsignificantly adding logic circuitry or requiring more space on the die.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure contemplates a method of operating an electronicdevice. The method comprises determining clock sufficiency for an ODT(on die termination) portion of an output driver in the electronicdevice; and operating the ODT portion in a synchronous mode or anasynchronous mode depending on the determination of clock sufficiency.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure further contemplates anothermethod of operating an electronic device. The method comprisesdetermining whether at least one clock pulse is present during a clockperiod for an ODT (on die termination) portion of an output driver inthe electronic device; and operating the ODT portion in a synchronousmode or an asynchronous mode depending on whether the at least one clockpulse is present or absent, respectively, during the clock period.

In another embodiment, the present disclosure contemplates a method ofoperating an electronic device, wherein the method comprises determiningclock sufficiency for a circuit portion in the electronic device; andoperating the circuit portion in a synchronous mode or an asynchronousmode depending on the determination of clock sufficiency.

In a further embodiment, the present disclosure contemplates anelectronic circuit. The electronic circuit comprises an output driverhaving an ODT (on die termination) portion; and an ODT control logic inthe output driver configured to operate the ODT portion in a synchronousmode or an asynchronous mode. The ODT control logic includes an ODT modedetector configured to determine clock sufficiency for the ODT portionand to perform one of the following in response thereto: (1) assert amode signal to allow the ODT control logic to operate the ODT portion inthe asynchronous mode when the determination indicates clockinsufficiency, or (2) de-assert the mode signal to allow the ODT controllogic to operate the ODT portion in the synchronous mode when thedetermination indicates clock sufficiency.

In a different embodiment, the present disclosure contemplates a memorydevice having the circuit described above, and a computer systemincorporating such memory device.

According to a system and method of the present disclosure an electronicdevice, such as a memory chip, may be operated with an output drivercircuit that is configured to include an ODT (On-Die Termination)asynchronous/synchronous mode detector that detects whether there issufficient internal clocking available to operate the ODT portion in theoutput driver in the synchronous mode of operation or to switch theoperation to the asynchronous mode. The clock-sufficiency baseddetermination of internal ODT mode of operation (synchronous vs.asynchronous) avoids utilization of complex and inflexible clockprocessing logic in an ODT control unit in the output driver. Theswitching of ODT mode of operation based on a rigid reliance on theindication of the current state of the electronic device (e.g., activestate, power down state, etc.) is avoided to take into account thepresence and sufficiency of clock signals required to sustain the newODT mode of operation. This enables the actual clocking to the ODTcircuitry to be changed during various device operational modes (e.g.,active, power down, etc.) without re-designing the ODT control logic foreach of those modes. The simplicity and flexibility of the ODT modedetector design allows for efficient use of chip real estate withoutaffecting the signal transfer speed of the output driver in theelectronic device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the present disclosure to be easily understood and readilypracticed, the present disclosure will now be described for purposes ofillustration and not limitation, in connection with the followingfigures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram illustrating a portion of an outputdriver in an electronic device (e.g., a memory chip);

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram showing a memory chip or memorydevice that employs an output driver with an ODT mode detector accordingto one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary circuit layout for a portion of the output drivershown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary internal circuit diagram of asetup-and-hold latch that initially receives the CLK and ODT inputs inthe circuit layout of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary internal circuit layout for the data latchin FIG. 3 that receives the LDLLF and RST2* signals as inputs;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary circuit layout depicting the internalconstruction of one of the flipflops in the ODT asynchronous modedetector circuit of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary set of simulated waveforms for the circuitconfiguration of FIG. 3 illustrating the switching between thesynchronous and asynchronous ODT modes of operation using the ODT_Asyncsignal generated by the ODT mode detector circuit according to oneembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a block diagram depicting a system in which one or more memorychips illustrated in FIG. 2 may be used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments of the presentdisclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions ofthe present disclosure included herein illustrate and describe elementsthat are of particular relevance to the present disclosure, whileeliminating, for the sake of clarity, other elements found in typicalsolid-state electronic devices, memories or memory-based systems. It isnoted at the outset that the terms “connected”, “connecting,”“electrically connected,” etc., are used interchangeably herein togenerally refer to the condition of being electrically connected. It isfurther noted that various block diagrams and circuit diagrams shown anddiscussed herein employ logic circuits that implement positive logic,i.e., a high value on a signal is treated as a logic “1” whereas a lowvalue is treated as a logic “0.” However, any of the circuits discussedherein may be easily implemented in negative logic (i.e., a high valueon a signal is treated as a logic “0” whereas a low value is treated asa logic “1”). Furthermore, in the positive logic notation, symbols “*”or “_” (e.g., Reset* or RST_) placed after a signal name indicates anactive low signal, whereas a signal name without such markings (e.g.,ODT, CLK, etc.) at the end indicates an active high signal.

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram showing a memory chip or memorydevice 22 that employs an output driver 36 with an ODT mode detector 42according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG.2 and discussed later hereinbelow, an output driver 36 in the memorychip's 22 I/O circuit portion 34 may include the ODT mode detector 42 aspart of an ODT enable/disable logic or ODT control logic 40. Thedetailed construction and operation of the ODT mode detector 42according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is describedhereinbelow with reference to FIGS. 3-7. The memory chip 22 may be partof a DIMM (dual in-line memory module) or a PCB (printed circuit board)containing many such memory chips (not shown in FIG. 2). The memory chip22 may include a plurality of pins or balls 24 located outside of chip22 for electrically connecting the chip 22 to other system devices. Someof those pins 24 may constitute memory address pins or address bus 25,data (DQ) pins or data bus 26, and control pins or control bus 27. It isevident that each of the reference numerals 25-27 designates more thanone pin in the corresponding bus. Further, it is understood that theschematic in FIG. 2 is for illustration only. That is, the pinarrangement or configuration in a typical memory chip may not be in theform shown in FIG. 2.

A processor or memory controller (not shown) may communicate with thechip 22 and perform memory read/write operations. The processor and thememory chip 22 may communicate using address signals on the addresslines or address bus 25, data signals on the data lines or data bus 26,and control signals (e.g., a row address select (RAS) signal, a columnaddress select (CAS) signal, etc. (not shown)) on the control lines orcontrol bus 27. The “width” (i.e., number of pins) of address, data andcontrol buses may differ from one memory configuration to another.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that memorychip 22 of FIG. 2 is simplified to illustrate one embodiment of a memorychip and is not intended to be a detailed illustration of all of thefeatures of a typical memory chip. Numerous peripheral devices orcircuits may be typically provided along with the memory chip 22 forwriting data to and reading data from the memory cells 28. However,these peripheral devices or circuits are not shown in FIG. 2 for thesake of clarity.

The memory chip 22 may include a plurality of memory cells 28 generallyarranged in rows and columns to store data in rows and columns. A rowdecode circuit 30 and a column decode circuit 32 may select the rows andcolumns in the memory cells 28 in response to decoding an addressprovided on the address bus 25. Data to/from the memory cells 28 is thentransferred over the data bus 26 via sense amplifiers and a data outputpath (not shown), but generally represented by an input/output (I/O)circuit 34. A memory controller (not shown) may provide relevant controlsignals (not shown) on the control bus 27 to control data communicationto and from the memory chip 22 via the I/O circuit 34. The I/O circuit34 may include a number of data output buffers or output drivers toreceive the data bits from the memory cells 28 and provide those databits or data signals to the corresponding data (DQ) lines in the databus 26. An exemplary output driver configuration 36 is discussed belowwith reference to FIG. 3.

A memory controller (not shown) may determine the modes of operation ofmemory chip 22. Some examples of the input signals or control signals(not shown in FIG. 2) on the control bus 27 include an External Clocksignal (CLK), a Chip Select signal, a Row Address Strobe signal, aColumn Address Strobe signal, a Write Enable signal, an ODTenable/disable signal (ODT), etc. The memory chip 22 communicates toother devices connected thereto via the pins 24 on the chip 22. Thesepins, as mentioned before, may be connected to appropriate address, dataand control lines to carry out data transfer (i.e., data transmissionand reception) operations.

The memory chip 22 can be a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) oranother type of memory circuits such as SRAM (Static Random AccessMemory) or Flash memories. Furthermore, the DRAM could be a synchronousDRAM commonly referred to as SGRAM (Synchronous Graphics Random AccessMemory), SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), SDRAM II, orDDR SDRAM (Double Data Rate SDRAM), as well as Synchlink or RambusDRAMs. In one embodiment, the memory chip 22 is a DDR DRAM operating ata clock frequency of 667 MHz and an I/O data rate of 1334 MHz.

The I/O circuit 34, as noted before, may control the data communicationto/from the memory chip 22 via output drivers 36 and other ancillarycircuits (not shown). A simplified block diagram of one such outputdriver 36 is shown in FIG. 2. Similar to the output driver 10 in FIG. 1,the output driver 36 in FIG. 2 may also include a set of ODT legs or ODTportion 38 and a set of non-ODT legs or non-ODT portion 39. The ODTcontrol logic 40 may be a modified version of the ODT control logic 16to include the ODT mode detector 42 according to one embodiment of thepresent disclosure. As discussed later, the ODT mode detector 42 mayautomatically determine internal ODT mode of operation based on adetermination of sufficiency of clocks for the ODT portion (e.g., theODT legs 38) of the output driver 36, and, based on that determination,may automatically switch the internal ODT operational mode fromsynchronous to asynchronous and vice versa.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary circuit layout 44 for a portion of the outputdriver 36 shown in FIG. 2. The ODT control logic 40 is shown to includean ODT asynchronous mode detector or the ODT mode detector 42 along withperipheral logic to generate an ODT_Shifted signal 45 that may besupplied to the ODT legs 38 to activate or deactivate the ODT operationdepending on whether the ODT_Shifted signal 45 is asserted or not,respectively. The ODT mode detector 42 operates on a number of clockinputs—i.e., an ODT_CLK* signal 46, an LDLLRDLY signal 47, and an LDLLFsignal 48 (all of which are discussed later hereinbelow)—to generate anODT_Async signal 49 as its output. An asserted or “high’ ODT_Asyncsignal 49 indicates the asynchronous mode of operation for the ODTportion (e.g., the ODT legs 38) in the output driver 36, whereas ade-asserted or “low” ODT_Async signal 49 indicates the synchronous modeof operation for the ODT portion. As shown in FIG. 3, the ODT_Asyncoutput 49 is used in the peripheral logic in the ODT control unit 40 (asan input to complex latches 50-51 and also as an input to the NOR gate53 which generates the RST2* signal 67 that is an input to the latch 52)to generate the ODT_Shifted signal 45.

It is noted here that the circuit layout 44 shows only a relevantportion of the output driver 36 to illustrate operation of the ODTasynchronous mode detector 42 according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure. It is evident to one skilled in the art that the outputdriver 36 (and, hence, the I/O unit 34) in a commercial memory chip(e.g., the memory chip 22) may include many additional circuits (analogand digital) to implement signal I/O functionality. Such additionalcircuits or other complex I/O units are not shown in FIG. 3 or discussedherein for the sake of brevity and ease of illustration.

The circuit layout 44 is shown to receive three clock inputs—the DLLF0signal 54, the DLLR0 signal 55, and the external reference clock signalCLK 56. Two additional input signals are the system reset signal RESET*57 (which is the complement of the system reset signal RESET 59 shown asan input to the NOR gate 60 in the ODT mode detector 42) and the ODTenable/disable signal (simply, the “ODT signal”) 58 received on anexternal ODT pin (not shown) on the memory chip 22. In case of a DDRDRAM memory chip (e.g., the memory chip 22), the DLLF0 signal 54 may bea falling-edge triggered clock signal that is derived from the fallingedges of the incoming system reference clock CLK 56. On the other hand,the DLLR0 signal 55 may be a rising-edge triggered clock signal that isderived from the rising edges of the incoming reference clock CLK 56.Both of these clocks DLLF0 54 and DLLR0 55 may be obtained from a clocksynchronization circuit (e.g., a delay locked loop or DLL) (not shown)that may also be a part of the memory chip 22 to provide timingsynchronization between the external system clock 56 and memory'sinternal clock(s) derived from the system clock 56 as is known in theart. The clock synchronization unit may output these rising- andfalling-edge triggered clocks to provide internal clock signals tovarious clock-dependent parts in the memory 22. In the embodiment ofFIG. 3, the DLL output clocks 54-55 are supplied to the ODTenable/disable logic unit 40 via a pair of NAND gates 62 for simulationof various signals in the circuit layout 44. As shown in FIG. 3, the DLLclocks 54-55 may be disabled during simulation by asserting the DLLclock disable signal DLL_DIS* 63 (an active low signal) that is an inputto both of the NAND gates in the pair 62. In an alternative embodiment,the DLL clocks 54-55 may be applied directly to the ODT control unit 40without using the pair of NAND gates 62 or the DLL_DIS signal 63.

The DLL clocks output from the pair of NAND gates 62 are labeled asDLLF0* 64 and DLLR0* 65 clock signals which are input to the ODT controllogic 40. The DLLF0* clock 64 is passed through an inverter and then aunit delay element 66 to obtain a delayed version of that clockidentified as the LDLLF clock signal 48 in FIG. 3. A complement of theLDLLF signal 48 (denoted as “LDLLF*” in FIG. 3) may also be generated(e.g., to supply as an input to the latch 52). Similarly, the DLLR0*clock 65 is passed first through an inverter and then through a unitdelay element 68 and another delay element 69 to obtain a delayedversion of DLLR0* signal 65 identified as the LDLLRDLY clock signal 47in FIG. 3. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the delay element 69 may includefour unit delay elements (not shown) to provide appropriate delay to thesignal output from the delay unit 68. Various other signals (e.g., thecomplementary clock signals LDLLR* and LDLLRDLY*) generated from theDLLR0* input 65 are also shown in FIG. 3, but not provided withreference numerals for simplicity of discussion.

The system reset signal RESET* 57 is input to the NOR gate 53 in the ODTcontrol unit 40 along with the ODT_Async output 49 from the ODT modedetector 42 to generate a local (internal) reset signal RST2* 67, whichis supplied as an input to the latch 52 as noted before. The two otherinput signals in the circuit layout 44—the external system clock signalCLK 56 and the external ODT enable/disable signal 58—are supplied to theODT control unit 40 via a setup-and-hold latch 70 and a pair of delayunits 72, 75. In the latch 70, the CLK 56 and ODT 58 signals may besupplied as inputs to another latch 71 (which is a part of the latch 70)whose two outputs (internally designated as A_W output and TCLK* clockoutput) are supplied to respective delay units 72, 75 as shown in FIG.3. The A_W latch output of the latch 71 may generate an inverted andlatched version of the ODT signal 58, whereas the TCLK* output of thelatch 71 may generate an inverted version of the external clock signalCLK 56 as can be seen from FIG. 4. FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplaryinternal circuit layout of the setup-and-hold latch 71, which is shownas a constituent part of the other setup-and-hold latch 70 in FIG. 3. InFIGS. 3 and 4, various input and output signal terminals of the latch 71(i.e., the “CLK”, “IN”, “TCLK”, and “A_W” terminals) are labeledconsistent with the signals the terminals carry. In themultiplexer-based circuit configuration for the latch 71, there may bean additional signal latching circuit 71 and a delay unit 77 (which, incase of the embodiment of FIG. 4, contains two unit delay elements (notshown)) placed between the IN and A_W terminals in the latch 71. The A_Woutput 78 appearing at the A_W terminal of the latch 71 may be suppliedto the delay unit 72 (which, in the embodiment of FIG. 3, may includetwo unit delay elements) whose output, in turn, is supplied as an ODT_W*input 73 to the ODT control unit 40 as shown. The A_W signal 78 (and,hence, the ODT_W* signal 73) may be an inverted and latched version ofthe ODT signal 58. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the frequency of theODT_W* signal 73 may be identical to the frequency of the ODT signal 58;however, the duty cycle of the ODT_W* signal 73 may be different fromthe duty cycle of the ODT signal 58. The ODT_W* signal 73 may have“wider” pulses than the ODT signal 58 as can be seen from an exemplaryset of simulation waveforms in FIG. 7. The second output of the latch71—i.e., the TCLK* clock signal 79 in FIG. 4—may be provided as an inputclock (i.e., the ODT_CLK* input 46 in FIG. 3) to the ODT mode detector42 via another delay unit 75 (which, in the embodiment of FIG. 3, mayinclude two unit delay elements) as shown in FIG. 3.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the ODT_W* signal 73 is shown supplied as adata (D) input along with other clock (Clk/Clkf), power (Pwrdn/Pwrdn*),and reset (Rf) inputs to the complex latch 50 whose constructionaldetails (i.e., internal circuit layout) and input/output pindesignations are also shown in FIG. 3. The other inputs signals to thelatch 50 are either generated internally in the ODT control unit 40(e.g., the ODT_Async 49 and LDLLRDLY 47 inputs, etc.) or suppliedthrough external system inputs to the circuit layout 44 (e.g., theRESET* signal 57). The generation (in case of an internally-generatedsignal) or reception (in case of an externally-supplied signal) of thesignals input to the latch 50 is explained hereinbefore and shown inFIG. 3. Therefore, additional discussion of signals input to the latch50 is not repeated herein for the sake of brevity. An output (Q) of thelatch 50 is shown supplied as a data (D) input to another complex latch51 in series with the latch 50. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, theconstruction (i.e., the internal circuit layout) of the latch 51 isidentical to that of the latch 50 and, hence, internal circuit layoutfor the latch 51 is not provided in FIG. 3 for ease of illustration. Theoutput “Q” of latch 51 is supplied as a data input (D) to the data latch52 and also as one of the inputs to a NOR gate 80. As in the case of thelatch 50, the generation or reception of various signals input to thelatch 51 is shown in FIG. 3 and already explained hereinbefore.Therefore, additional discussion of inputs to the latch 51 is notrepeated herein for the sake of brevity.

The data latch 52 generates an output signal from the input at its “D”input and various control inputs (e.g., the LDLLF signal and the RST2*signal 67) at its other input terminals (e.g., the complementary “Lat”and “Latf” latching terminals, and the “Sf’ control signal inputterminal). The complement (Q0 of the output (Q) generated in the latch52 may be supplied as another input to the NOR gate 80 through aninverter as shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary internalcircuit layout for the data latch 52 in FIG. 3. Various input and outputterminal designations for the data latch 52 are identical in FIGS. 3 and5. Because of the self-explanatory nature of the circuit layout in FIG.5 to one skilled in the art, additional discussion of the circuit shownin FIG. 5 is not provided herein for the sake of brevity.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the output of the NOR gate 80 is suppliedto a delay unit 74 (which, in the embodiment of FIG. 3, may include aunit delay element (not shown) and a pair of series connected inverters(not shown)) whose output is passed through an inverter to obtain theODT_Shifted signal 45 as shown in FIG. 3. As noted hereinbefore, theODT_Shifted signal 45 may be supplied to the ODT portion (e.g., the ODTlegs 38) in the output driver 36 in FIG. 2 to activate or deactivate theODT operation. It is seen from the circuit generating the ODT_Shiftedsignal 45 that the generation or assertion of the ODT_Shifted signal 45may be controlled by the ODT_Async signal 49 that is generated/assertedby the ODT mode detector 42 when the ODT portion of the output driver 36is to be operated internally in an asynchronous mode. In the embodimentof FIG. 3, when the ODT_Async signal 49 is asserted, the complex latches50-51 will not latch, but will act as a “flow-through” device for thesignal input to the “D” terminal of the first latch 50 (which is aninverted version of the ODT_W* signal 73). Thus, when the ODT_Asyncsignal 49 is asserted, the inverted version of the ODT_W* signal 73 willpass through the latches 50-52 and, hence, the ODT_Shifted signal 45will be a delayed (due to delays in the signal transmission pathinvolving the latches 50-52 and delay unit 74) and inverted version ofthe ODT_W* signal 73 as can be seen from the exemplary set of waveformsin FIG. 7 discussed later hereinbelow. However, when the ODT_Asyncsignal 49 is not asserted (i.e., when the ODT mode detector 42determines that the ODT legs 38 are to be operated in an internallysynchronous mode), the power down (PWRDN) terminals of the latches 50-51have a logic “low” or “0” value, and, hence, the latches 50-51 performsignal latching operation. In this situation, the operation of latches50-52 results in generation of the ODT_Shifted signal 45 which is aninverted, delayed and latched version of the ODT_W* input signal 73.FIG. 7 illustrates the different pulse width (i.e., “wider” or “latched”version) of the pulses in the ODT_Shifted signal 45 as compared to thepulse width of the ODT_W* signal 73 during de-assertion of ODT_Asyncsignal 49 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.Additional details about the timing relation between the ODT_W* signal73 and the ODT_Shifted signal 45 are discussed later hereinbelow withreference to the discussion of FIG. 7. Thus, it is seen that the ODTmode detector 42 may control (through the ODT_Async signal 49controlling the assertion of the ODT_Shifted signal 45) whether the ODTlegs 38 are to be operated in an internally synchronous or asynchronousmode. The generation of the ODT_Async signal 49 is discussed in detailhereinbelow.

Referring now to the circuit layout of the ODT mode detector 42 in FIG.3, it is seen that the external clock signal CLK 56 is supplied to theODT mode detector 42 in the form of the ODT_CLK* signal 46 as discussedhereinbefore. The ODT_CLK* signal 46 passes through two inverters 82, 83and clocks the flipflops or latches 85, 87; whereas the inverted versionof the ODT_CLK* signal 46 (designated as the “ODT_CLK” output of theinverter 82) clocks the other two flipflops 84, 86 in the ODT modedetector 42 as shown in FIG. 3. The data or “D” input terminals of allflipflops 84, 85 may be connected to a circuit “high” potential (e.g., aVcc or similar other high voltage level). The output “Q” of the flipflop84 is supplied as a data input to the flipflop 86, whereas the output ofthe flipflop 85 is supplied as a data input to the flipflop 87 as shown.The reset terminals (designated as “RST_” terminals) of flipflops 86, 87are connected to the system reset signal RESET* 57, whereas the resetterminals of flipflops 84, 85 are connected to the output of the NORgate 60. The outputs (terminals marked as “Q”) of flipflops 86, 87 areapplied as inputs to a NAND gate 88 whose output is inverted by theinverter 90 to generate the ODT_Async signal 49. As noted hereinbefore,the three-input NOR gate 60 may receive two clock signals LDLLRDLY 47and LDLLF 48, and the system reset signal RESET 59 as inputs andgenerate an output that is applied to the reset terminals of flipflops84, 85. FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary circuit layout depicting theinternal construction of flipflop 84 in the ODT mode detector 42 withall signal terminals of the flipflop 84 marked identically in FIGS. 3and 6. All other flipflops 85-87 may have similar internal constructionand, hence, only the circuit layout of flipflop 84 is shown in FIG. 6.Because of the simplicity of the construction of flipflop 84 and becauseof the familiarity of its operation to one skilled in the art,additional discussion of the circuit in FIG. 6 is not provided hereinfor the sake of brevity.

It is observed here that even though the ODT pin (not shown) on thememory chip 22 (FIG. 2) is externally synchronous (i.e., the ODT signal58 on the ODT pin always has a fixed relationship with respect to thememory device's 22 external clock), the internal or “actual” operationalmode for the ODT portion (e.g., the ODT legs 38 in FIG. 2) in the outputdriver 36 may be synchronous or asynchronous depending on thedetermination of clock sufficiency, i.e. whether all the clock signalsneeded for that mode of operation are available. Determination ofwhether all the clock signals needed for a particular mode of operationare present, is performed by the ODT mode detector 42. Furthermore, whenthe current mode of operation of the memory device 22 is a power downmode, an external memory controller (not shown) may require the memorychip 22 to place the ODT portion in its output driver 36 in anasynchronous mode of operation despite the possibility that there maystill be some clock cycles available (before the memory device 22transitions into the power down mode) internally in the memory device 22to continue a synchronous ODT mode of operation. Thus, it may bepreferable to assess or detect whether the ODT circuitry (e.g., the ODTlegs 38 and the ODT enable/disable logic unit 40) in the memory chip 22has the required clocking for synchronous mode of operation and toautomatically switch the internal ODT operational mode to synchronous,which is still within the external asynchronous specification. Thus, itmay be desirable to avoid wasting internal clocks or blindly setting theinternal ODT operational mode based on the memory's current state ofoperation (e.g., a power down state) without considering the clocksufficiency status for the ODT portion (e.g., the ODT legs 38) in theoutput driver 36. A clock sufficiency-based determination of internalODT mode of operation may not only facilitate automatic switching of ODTmode of operation (from asynchronous to synchronous and vice versa), butmay also allow actual (internal) clocking to the ODT circuitry(including, for example, the ODT enable/disable logic 40 and ODT legs38) to be changed during various modes of operation (synchronous vs.asynchronous) or halted at any time without worrying about clockboundary conditions.

The ODT mode detector circuit 42 illustrated in FIG. 3 according to oneembodiment of the present disclosure may be used to determine the clocksufficiency status for the ODT portion (e.g., the ODT legs 38) in theoutput driver 36. If the ODT mode detector 42 determines that there aresufficiency clock pulses for the ODT portion, then the ODT_Async signal49 remains de-asserted and the ODT portion may be internally operated inthe synchronous mode. If clock pulses are found to be insufficient forthe synchronous mode of operation, the ODT_Async signal 49 may beasserted to establish the asynchronous mode of operation for the ODTportion. The clock sufficiency determination may be made based on thetiming relationship between the clock pulses LDLLRDLY 47 and LDLLF 48with respect to the ODT_CLK*46, which are all inputs to the ODT modedetector 42 as shown in FIG. 3. The synchronous ODT mode of operationmay be treated as a subset of the asynchronous ODT mode of operationbecause of the relatively stringent timing requirements fortransitioning from the asynchronous to synchronous mode, but a widertiming range for transitioning from the synchronous to the asynchronousmode.

For example, in one embodiment, when going from synchronous toasynchronous mode, one complete cycle (having period equal to the clockperiod of the CLK signal 56) of no clocking (i.e., absence of a pulse inthe LDLLRDLY 47 clock signal 47 and the LDLLF clock signal 48 for theduration of one complete clock cycle) may be required before the ODTmode detector 42 asserts the ODT_Async signal 49. The circuit design ofthe ODT mode detector 42 in the embodiment of FIG. 3 allows the ODT modedetector 42 to detect such absence of clocks. That is, when the ODT modedetector 42 does not receive any of the DLL clock inputs 47, 48 (andassuming that the RESET signal 59 is not asserted), the output of theNOR gate 60 goes “high”, thereby operating the flipflops 84, 85 to clockthe “high” voltage input at their respective “D” terminals to the nextpair of flipflops 86, 87, which also clock these “high” voltage signalsto the inputs of the NAND gate 88. Therefore, when there is no DLL clock(whether rising edge-triggered or falling edge-triggered) in the span ofone clock cycle, that condition may be interpreted as an “insufficient”clocking to sustain an internal synchronous ODT mode of operation. Inthat event, both the inputs to the NAND gate 88 go “high”, therebyresulting in the assertion of the ODT_Async signal 49 to switch the ODTmode of operation to the asynchronous mode. It is observed here thatbecause the DLL clocks LDLLRDLY 47 and LDLLF 48 are derived from theexternal system clock 56, as mentioned hereinbefore, the clock period ofthese DLL clocks may be identical to the clock period of the systemreference clock 56, but the duty cycle of the DLL clocks may differ fromthe duty cycle of the system clock 56 as can be seen from the exemplarywaveforms for these three clocks in FIG. 7 discussed later hereinbelow.

In one embodiment, the clock synchronization circuit (e.g., a DLL (notshown)) that generates the DLLR0 input clock 55 (which becomes theLDLLRDLY clock 47 after some amount of delay as discussed hereinbefore)and the DLLF0 input clock 54 (which becomes the LDLLF clock 48 aftersome amount of delay as discussed before) may generate these two clocksignals in pairs when clocking is in its normal state (e.g., during thememory's 22 active mode of operation). However, once the clocking isshut down (e.g., during the memory's power down mode of operation), apulse in the DLLR0 clock 55 may fire with no DLLF0 pulse 54 to follow(which normally occurs at most a half clock cycle later) or the clockingmay end on a DLLF0 pulse without a following DLLR0 pulse. Therefore, inthe embodiment of FIG. 3, the DLLF0 and DLLR0 clocks 54, 55,respectively, are used (through their respective delayed versions LDLLF48 and LDLLRDLY 47) in the clock sufficiency determination by the ODTmode detector 42. The circuit for the ODT detector 42 may be designed bygiving the synchronous mode of ODT operation a priority over theasynchronous ODT mode of operation because of the tighter timingrequirements when transitioning from the asynchronous to the synchronousmode. Because the synchronous mode timing requirements are a subset ofthe asynchronous mode timing specifications, a circuit designed to meetthe synchronous timing specification will always be within the muchlooser asynchronous timing specification. In one embodiment, thetransitioning from the asynchronous mode (related to absence of a pulsein each of the DLL clocks 47, 48 for the duration equal to one completeclock cycle) to the synchronous mode may require the presence oroccurrence of only a half cycle of a clock pulse (i.e., a pulseoccurring during a half clock period in the LDLLRDLY clock 47 or theLDLLF clock 48) to turn off (de-assert) the ODT_Async signal 49 bybringing it “low” and thereby starting the synchronous ODT mode ofoperation. In the ODT mode detector 42, as soon as one of the clockinputs 47, 48 has a pulse or “high” voltage level occurring in it, theoutput of the NOR gate 60 goes to the “low” state, thereby resetting theflipflops 84, 85, which results in the clocking of at least one “low”voltage input to the NAND gate 88 and, hence, de-asserting or turningoff the ODT_Async signal 49 at the output of the inverter 90.

It is observed here that the ODT portion in the output driver 36 may notgo into an internal asynchronous mode and then turn around and go backinto an internal synchronous mode and then switch again to theasynchronous mode in a short amount of time because of the timingconstraints placed in the operational timing specification for the ODTportion. Therefore, when the ODT portion (e.g., the ODT legs 38) is inthe asynchronous mode and transitions to the synchronous mode, theoperational timing specification may require the ODT control unit 40 toguarantee that the ODT portion is operated in the synchronous mode formany clock cycles without random and abrupt switching to theasynchronous mode. This timing requirement may be exploited when makingthe determination (using the ODT mode detector 42) for switching fromthe asynchronous to the synchronous mode because as soon as LDLLRDLYpulse 47 (or the LDLLF pulse 48) fires (from a clock synchronizationcircuit), it can be assumed that the other corresponding pulse LDLLF 48(or LDLLRDLY 47) will fire at most a half of a clock cycle later becausethe pulse firing indicates the starting of the synchronous mode thatcannot be terminated for several more clock cycles to go back to theprevious asynchronous mode. Therefore, the ODT detector 42 may beconfigured to determine that there is sufficient clocking for the ODTportion in the output driver 36 to transition into the synchronous modewhen there is at least one half of a clock cycle of clocking present inany one of the input DLL clocks 47, 48.

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary set of simulated waveforms for the circuitconfiguration 44 of FIG. 3 illustrating the switching between thesynchronous and asynchronous ODT modes of operation using the ODT_Asyncsignal 49 generated by the ODT mode detector circuit 42 according to oneembodiment of the present disclosure. The simulated external ODT signal58 and system reference clock signal 56 are shown at the top in FIG. 7.The inverted and latched version of the ODT signal 58—i.e., the ODT_W*signal 73—is shown next followed by a simulated set of delayed DLL clockpulses in the LDLLRDLY clock 47 and LDLLF clock 48. In the embodiment ofFIG. 7, both of the DLL clocks 47, 48 appear closely aligned with eachother. However, as discussed hereinbefore, in other embodiments, theremay be a half a clock cycle of time delay between corresponding pulsesin the LDLLRDLY 47 and LDLLF 48 clock signals. It is seen from FIG. 7that the ODT_Async signal 49 may be asserted (by the ODT mode detector42) in the absence of any DLL clock pulse in the input clocks 47-48 tosignify the asynchronous ODT mode of operation. The ODT_Async signal 49may be de-asserted or brought to a “low” level (to switch the internalODT mode of operation to the synchronous mode) when at least one clockpulse occurs in at least one of the DLL clock inputs 47, 48 during ahalf clock cycle period and is detected by the ODT mode detector 42 asexplained hereinbefore. The corresponding ODT_Shifted signal 45generated at the output of the ODT control unit 40 in FIG. 3 is alsoshown as the last waveform in FIG. 7.

It is observed with reference to the simulated waveforms in FIG. 7 thata timing specification (known to one skilled in the art, but notdiscussed in detail herein for the sake of brevity) for the ODT modes ofoperation may require that in the internal asynchronous mode of ODToperation, there may be a minimum of 2 ns (for example) and a maximum of2 clock periods (plus some allowable skew) of delay in assertion of anODT_Shifted pulse 45 after a corresponding pulse in the external ODTsignal 58 (represented in FIG. 7 by the ODT_W* signal 73) is asserted.As mentioned before, the term “clock period” may refer herein to theclock period of the external system clock 56 (or the period of any ofthe DLL clocks 47, 48). On the other hand, again in case of the internalasynchronous ODT mode of operation, the timing specification may requirethat there may be a minimum of 2 ns (for example) and a maximum of 21/2clock periods (plus some allowable skew) of delay in de-assertion of theODT_Shifted pulse 45 after the corresponding pulse in the ODT_W* signal73 is de-asserted. During synchronous operation, the timingspecification may require exactly two clock periods (plus or minusallowable skew) to assert the ODT_shifted signal 45 and it may alsorequire two and a half clock periods (plus or minus allowable skew) tode-assert the ODT_Shifted signal 45; Therefore, the synchronous mode ofoperation is a subset of the looser asynchronous mode of operation andcan be internally used to assure operation within the specificationwhenever clock sufficiency warrants such operation, Thus, it is observedthat the internal ODT mode of operation (asynchronous vs. synchronous)may be determined by the timing relationship between the external ODTsignal 58 (or its representative signal ODT_W* 73) and the ODT_Shiftedsignal 45 that is sent to the ODT portion in the memory output driver36. As discussed hereinbefore, the generation/assertion of theODT_Shifted signal 45 may be controlled by the ODT_Async signal 49 fromthe ODT mode detector 42 whose assertion or de-assertion reflects,respectively, whether the internal ODT mode of operation is asynchronousor synchronous. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the ODT_Async signal-basedgeneration of the ODT_Shifted signal 45 also complies with various ODToperational timing specification requirements discussed hereinbefore.

Thus, the ODT mode detector 42 may not only satisfy the timingrequirements that may be necessary under a given ODT operational timingspecification, but may also allow the actual clocking to the ODTcircuitry (including, for example, the ODT control logic 40 and the ODTlegs 38) to be changed during various internal ODT modes of operation(synchronous or asynchronous) because of the ODT mode detector's 42ability to detect clock sufficiency to determine ODT mode of operationas opposed to blind reliance on clock presence indicator signal orsignals (which may or may not indicate whether sufficient clock pulsesare available for ODT portion to be operating in the synchronous mode).In one embodiment, because of the ability of the ODT mode detector 42 todetect clock sufficiency for internal ODT modes of operation, the actualclocking to the ODT circuitry in the output driver 36 may be madeprogrammable after tapeout in the memory chip 22 without reworking theODT control logic (e.g., the logic unit 40 in FIG. 3) for each memorystate of operation (e.g., an active state, a power down state, etc.).Thus, a part's clocking logic may be changed without modifying thecircuit configuration of the ODT mode detector 42 or the ODT controllogic 40, thereby resulting in significant efficiency in designing andimplementing various circuit configurations. This is different from theclocking logic-dependent ODT control logic 16 in the prior art outputdriver configuration 10 discussed with reference to FIG. 1 earlierhereinbefore. Furthermore, the clock sufficiency-based operation of theODT mode detector 42 allows the clocking to the ODT circuitry in theoutput driver 36 to be halted at any time (e.g., during testing) withoutworrying about clock boundary conditions. In the prior art output driver10 of FIG. 1, such halted clocking and associated clock boundaryconditions may result in mistakenly switching the ODT mode of operation(e.g., from asynchronous to synchronous) regardless of whether there issufficient clocking available to sustain the new mode (e.g., thesynchronous mode).

It is observed here that the ODT mode detector 42 according to oneembodiment of the present disclosure has a quite simplifiedconstruction, thereby resulting in a significantly less complex logiccircuit design for the ODT enable/disable logic unit 40 in the memorychip 22. This simplicity in the construction of the ODT mode detector 42results in a minimal consumption of the valuable chip real estate, whilefreeing up other chip real estate for a designer to include othercircuits. The adaptability of the ODT mode detector 42, withoutmodifications, to different clocking logic implementations for thememory chip 22 further allows efficient use of chip real estate.Furthermore, the simplified construction and operation of the ODT modedetector 42 according to one embodiment of the present disclosureresults in no negative effect on the speed with which signals may beoutput from the output driver 36 in the memory chip 22.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram depicting a system 100 in which one or morememory chips 22 illustrated in FIG. 2 may be used. The system 100 mayinclude a data processing unit or computing unit 102 that includes aprocessor 104 for performing various computing functions, such asexecuting specific software to perform specific calculations or dataprocessing tasks. The computing unit 102 also includes a memorycontroller 108 that is in communication with the processor 104 through abus 106. The bus 106 may include an address bus (not shown), a data bus(not shown), and a control bus (not shown). The memory controller 108 isalso in communication with a set of memory devices 22 (i.e., multiplememory chips 22 of the type shown in FIG. 2) through another bus 110(which may be similar to the bus 24 shown in FIG. 2). In one embodiment,each memory device 22 is a DDR3 DRAM operating at a clock frequency of667 MHz and a data I/O rate of 1334 MHz. Each memory device 22 mayinclude appropriate data storage and retrieval circuitry (not shown inFIG. 8) as shown in FIG. 2. The processor 104 can perform a plurality offunctions based on information and data stored in the memories 22.

The memory controller 108 can be a microprocessor, digital signalprocessor, embedded processor, micro-controller, dedicated memory testchip, a tester platform, or the like. The memory controller 108 maycontrol routine data transfer operations to/from the memories 22, forexample, when the memory devices 22 are part of an operational computingsystem 102. The memory controller 108 may reside on the same motherboard(not shown) as that carrying the memory chips 22. Various otherconfigurations of electrical connection between the memory chips 22 andthe memory controller 108 may be possible. For example, the memorycontroller 108 may be a remote entity communicating with the memorychips 22 via a data transfer or communications network (e.g., a LAN(local area network) of computing devices).

The system 100 may include one or more input devices 112 (e.g., akeyboard or a mouse) connected to the computing unit 102 to allow a userto manually input data, instructions, etc., to operate the computingunit 102. One or more output devices 114 connected to the computing unit102 may also be provided as part of the system 100 to display orotherwise output data generated by the processor 104. Examples of outputdevices 114 include printers, video terminals or video display units(VDUs). In one embodiment, the system 100 also includes one or more datastorage devices 116 connected to the data processing unit 102 to allowthe processor 104 to store data in or retrieve data from internal orexternal storage media (not shown). Examples of typical data storagedevices 116 include drives that accept hard and floppy disks, CD-ROMs(compact disk read-only memories), and tape cassettes. As noted before,the memory devices 22 in the computing unit 102 have the configurationillustrated in FIG. 2, i.e., each memory device 22 includes an I/Ocircuit 34 with an ODT mode detector (e.g., the detector 42 in FIGS.2-3) according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Although the discussion given hereinbefore has been primarily withreference to memory devices, it is evident that the signal output driverconfiguration and circuit details illustrated in FIGS. 2-6 are exemplaryonly, and may be employed, with suitable modifications which may beevident to one skilled in the art, in any non-memory electronic devicethat may utilize a signal driver circuit having ODT and non-ODT legs asillustrated, for example, in FIG. 2. The circuit configuration of theODT mode detector 42 according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be implemented in a signal output driver of anynon-memory electronic device (with suitable modifications evident to oneskilled in the art) where internal ODT mode of operation is switchedfrom an asynchronous mode to a synchronous mode and vice versa. Suchimplementations are not discussed in detail herein for the sake ofbrevity, however the present disclosure fully contemplates suchimplementations in other non-memory electronic devices.

The foregoing describes a system and method to operate an electronicdevice, such as a memory chip, with an output driver circuit that isconfigured to include an ODT (On-Die Termination)asynchronous/synchronous mode detector that detects whether there issufficient internal clocking available to operate the ODT portion in theoutput driver in the synchronous mode of operation or to switch theoperation to the asynchronous mode. The clock-sufficiency baseddetermination of internal ODT mode of operation (synchronous vs.asynchronous) avoids utilization of complex and inflexible clockprocessing logic in an ODT control unit in the output driver. Theswitching of ODT mode of operation based on a rigid reliance on theindication of the current state of the electronic device (e.g., activestate, power down state, etc.) is avoided to take into account thepresence and sufficiency of clock signals required to sustain the newODT mode of operation. This enables the actual clocking to the ODTcircuitry to be changed during various device operational modes (e.g.,active, power down, etc.) without re-designing the ODT control logic foreach of those modes. The simplicity and flexibility of the ODT modedetector design allows for efficient use of chip real estate withoutaffecting the signal transfer speed of the output driver in theelectronic device.

While the disclosure has been described in detail and with reference tospecific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in theart that various changes and modifications can be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the embodiments. Thus, it isintended that the present disclosure cover the modifications andvariations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving a control signalto operate a memory device in power down state associated with anasynchronous mode of operation for on-die termination (ODT) circuitry;determining a sufficiency of clock signals for a synchronous mode ofoperation when a clock pulse occurs in a first input clock signal basedon a rising edge of an external clock signal or a second input clocksignal based on a failing edge of the external clock signal during halfof a clock period of the external clock signal; determining aninsufficiency of clock signals for a synchronous mode of operation whenno clock pulses occur for both the first input clock signal and thesecond input clock signal during one clock period of the external clocksignal; if the determining indicates sufficiency of clock signals,operating the memory device in the power down state using thesynchronous mode of operation; and if the determining indicatesinsufficiency of clock signals, operating the memory device in the powerdown state using the asynchronous mode of operation.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the control signal is indicative of the memory deviceentering a power-down mode.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thedetermining is performed by a mode detector.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the determining is performed automatically by the mode detector.5. The method of claim 1, wherein the control signal is provided by amemory controller.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:monitoring the sufficiency of clock signals; if the monitoring indicatessufficiency of clock signals, operating the memory device in thesynchronous mode of operation; and if the monitoring indicatesinsufficiency of clock signals, operating the memory device in theasynchronous mode of operation.
 7. A method for controlling an on-dietermination (ODT) circuit in an electronic device, comprising: operatingthe electronic device in a power down state; monitoring the sufficientavailability of an internal clock signal based on an occurrence of aclock pulse in either a first input clock signal based on a rising edgeof an external clock signal or a second input clock signal based on afalling edge of the external clock signal during half of a clock periodof the external clock signal; monitoring the insufficient availabilityof an internal clock signal based on an occurrence of a clock pulse inboth the first input clock signal and the second input clock signalduring one clock period of the external clock signal; if the monitoringindicates a sufficiency of the internal clock signal, operating the ODTcircuit in a synchronous mode of operation, at least in part, while theelectronic device is operating in the power down state; and if themonitoring indicates an insufficiency of the internal clock signal,changing the ODT circuit to an asynchronous mode of operation, at leastin part, while the electronic device is operating in the power downstate.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: receiving a commandfrom a memory controller to operate the ODT circuit in an asynchronousmode of operation; and changing the ODT circuit to the asynchronous modeof operation only if the internal clock signal is not sufficientlyavailable.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: changing theODT circuit to the synchronous mode of operation responsive to thesufficient availability of the internal clock signal.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the changing is based, at least in part, on comparingthe internal clock signal with an internal signal.
 11. An output driverin an electronic device, the output driver comprising: an on-dietermination (ODT) circuit having an input, wherein the ODT circuit isconfigured to operate in a synchronous mode of operation or anasynchronous mode of operation, in accordance with a control signalreceived at the input; and a control unit configured to determine asufficiency of an internal clock signal for the synchronous mode ofoperation based on a clock pulse in either a first input clock signalbased on a rising edge of an external clock signal or a second inputclock signal based on a falling edge of the external clock signal duringhalf of a clock period of the external clock signal and configured todetermine an insufficiency of the internal clock signal for thesynchronous mode of operation based on a clock pulse in both the firstinput clock signal and the second input clock signal during one clockperiod of the external clock signal, wherein the control unit is furtherconfigured, if the internal clock signal is sufficient, to generate thecontrol signal indicative of the synchronous mode of operation even if astate of operation of the electronic device changes from an activestate, and wherein the control unit is further configured, if theinternal clock signal is insufficient, to generate the control signalindicative of the asynchronous mode of operation.
 12. The output driverof claim 11, wherein the control unit comprises a mode detectorconfigured to determine the sufficiency of the clock signal.
 13. Anoutput driver in an electronic device, the output driver comprising: anon-die termination (ODT) circuit having an input, wherein the ODTcircuit is configured to operate in a synchronous mode of operation oran asynchronous mode of operation, in accordance with a control signalreceived at the input; and a control unit configured to determine asufficiency of an internal clock signal for the synchronous mode ofoperation, wherein the control unit is further configured, if theinternal clock signal is sufficient, to generate the control signalindicative of the synchronous mode of operation, and wherein the controlunit is further configured, if the internal clock signal isinsufficient, to generate the control signal indicative of theasynchronous mode of operation, wherein the control unit includes a modedetector configured to determine the sufficiency of the clock signal,the mode detector comprising: a NOR gate for receiving a first inputclock and a second input clock and for generating a first outputtherefrom; a first latch having a first reset terminal for receivingsaid first output, a first clock terminal for receiving a clock signal,a first data terminal for receiving a fixed voltage signal thereon, anda first output terminal for conveying a second output generated by saidfirst latch; a second latch connected in series with said first latchand having a second reset terminal for receiving a system reset signal,a second clock terminal for receiving said clock signal, a second dataterminal connected to said first output terminal for receiving saidsecond output, and a second output terminal for conveying a third outputgenerated by said second latch; a third latch having a third resetterminal for receiving said first output, a third clock terminal forreceiving said clock signal, a third data terminal for receiving a fixedvoltage signal thereon, and a third output terminal for conveying afourth output generated by said third latch; a fourth latch connected inseries with said third latch and having a fourth reset terminal forreceiving said system reset signal, a fourth clock terminal forreceiving said clock signal, a fourth data terminal connected to saidthird output terminal for receiving said fourth output, and a fourthoutput terminal for conveying a fifth output generated by said fourthlatch; and a NAND gate for receiving said third and said fifth outputsas inputs thereto and for generating the control signal at an outputthereof.
 14. The output driver of claim 11, wherein the electronicdevice comprises a memory device.
 15. A method for controlling an on-dietermination (ODT) circuit in an electronic device receiving an externalclock signal, comprising: operating the electronic device in a powerdown state; operating the ODT circuit in a synchronous mode ofoperation, at least in part, while the electronic device is operating inthe power down state; receiving a command from a memory controller tooperate the ODT circuit in an asynchronous mode of operation; andchanging the ODT circuit to an asynchronous mode of operation, at leastin part, while the electronic device is operating in the power downstate and wherein said changing is responsive to detecting no clockpulses in both a first input clock signal and a second input clocksignal during a clock period of the external clock signal, wherein thefirst input clock signal is based on a rising edge of the external clocksignal and the second input clock signal is based on a falling edge ofthe external clock signal.